Film-splicing machine



May 28, 1929., J. G. LEO

FILM SPLICING MACHINE Filed Sept. 4, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet INVENTOR ATTORNEY 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 BY fifizhm ATTORNEY May 28, 1929. J. G. LEO

' FILM SPLICING MACHINE Filed Sept. 4, 1926 Patented May 28, .1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JACK G. LEO, OF NEW YORK, N. Y-, ASSIGNOR TO FOX FILM CORPORATION, OF NEW YORK, N. 'Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

FILM-SPLIGING MACHINE.

Application filed September 4, 1926. Serial No. 133,607.

The device of this application is in the nature of, an improvement on that shown in my pending application, Serial No. 55,901, filed September 12, 1925, in which it was necessary to make a number of reciprocal movements to accomplish the desired result, whereas with this construction all the .operations are accomplished in" one forward movement resulting in great economy of time and increased ease of operation.

The brittle nature of the material composing the film is such that cracks occur, even with the utmost care in handling, the cracks usually starting at some of the perforations adjacent the edges, weakening the film which eventually separates, causing delay and annoyance in picture projection.

Incipient cracks are commonly discovered, prior to exhibition of the pictures, by running the film through an inspection apparatus whereby the condition of the film may be ascertained and prompt repairs made in the shortest possible time.

Not only is speed desirable in mending or splicing operations, but the piecin should be neatly and accurately accomplished in a substantially automatic manner, not depending upon the skill of an operator but rather on the effectiveness of reliable appliances, each performing its function in sequence by a continuous movement of a single handle.

These operations, in addition. to clamping the ends of a broken film in registration, in-

of the film by rotating cutters, wire or scratch brushing, soft brushing, cutting the ends squarely across, applying cement to the part to be overlapped, moving the ends into juxtaposition and applying pressure for a few seconds while the cement is setting.

.All these several features are to'be found in the embodiment of the invention hereinafter described and shown in the accompany,-

elude removing the emulsion from one end' Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view of panded base 10, an elongated rectangle in shape, its level top 11 having a central 1011- gitudinal undercut slot 12 in which operates a slide 13 exceeding the length ofthe base.

Secured on the opposite sides of the raised portion of the base, approximately at the center of its length, are pads 14 and 15, the

, latter reaching-down from a horizontal table 17 provided with pins, not shown, to engage a film deposited thereon.

At theforward edge of the table are lug forks 18 between which is pivoted a swing bolt 21 adapted to engage in another pair of forked lugs 22 carried at the forward edge of a clamp plate 2 1 connected by a hinge 25 to the rear edge of the table and provided with stops 26 to prevent excessive motion of the cover plate.

The forward pad 14 extends downwardly from a second table 16 cut away in its upper surface to receive a transverse slide 19, also provided with guide and film perforation receiving pins as on the table top 17.

A frame 20, provided with a forked lug 18, extends forwardly and ivoted between the forks of the lug is a SWIH) bolt 21 engageable with a correspondingly forked element 22 on a cover plate 24', connected by a hin e 25' to the rear of the frame and provided with limiting stops 26'.

The broken ends of a film are placed on the table 17 and slide 19 respectively, their ends overlapped to any desired extent and adjusted on the pins to bring the pictures into coincidence, the film being guided by the mentioned pins and the cover or clamp plates secured thereover in an obvious man- An upstanding beam-3O formed on the rear portion of the slide 13 extends through- .outits entire length, bein movable below the inner undercut edgeof the table 17 to clear the same and fixed to the front end of the beam 30 is a flat strip 31 bent to extend to the front-side of the apparatus around the pad 14 and carry an operating handle 32 the same being inclined downwardly to clear the base 10 and extend convenient to an operator. v A rack 33 is fixed to the inner surface of the bracket pad 14 and carried by the slide rack and in mesh with a pinion 36 fixed on the upper side of a gear 37 rotatable on a fixed stud and driving a train of gears 38, 39 and 40.

Each of the last named gears is fixed on the lower ends of tubular spindles 41, see Fig. 5, extending up through the wall of a recess 42 in the beam 30 to slidably receive the shanks 43 of end mills 44 keyed or otherwise arranged to rotate with the tubular spindles.

Passing axially downwardly through the gears are headed stems 45 having semi-spherically curved ends extending through the slide 13 into a recess 46 in its bottom to make contact with a cam lug 47 set' in the bottom of the slideway 12, each stem in its turn being raised by such contact, compression springs 48 enclosed in the tubes 41 between the heads of the stems 45 and the cutter stems 43, causing the latter to resiliently rise and fall as the slide is moved past the rack.

The cutting edges of the mills are thus brought to bear on the under sideof the film strip, removing the emulsion in a thorough mechanical manner, under s ring pres sure and doing no injury to the lm.

A stop pin 49, set in the bottom of the slot 12 is received in the recess '46, which is closed at its outer end, thus limiting the forward movement of the slide.

Another pin 27, fixed in the other side of the slideway 12 extends to make contact with a pin 28 set in the channel 46, thuslimiting the movement of the slide. in a rearward direction. 4

In the widest, forward portion of theslide 13 is a well 50 containing a liquid, as

water,having a filling nozzle 50' and reach ing into the liquid is a porous ad 51 extending above the slide throug a guide frame 52, the pad, such as felt, bein supported by resilient members 53 attac ed to the frame, which also carries a flat spring 54 to hold the pad substantially upright when subjected to the thrust of contact with the film.

This block or pad acts asa moistener for the film under which it is passed, tending to soften the emulsion preparatory to the succeeding operation. a

After passing the moistener, and being subjected to the mills 44, the film ends are passed over stiff Wire brushes 55 held in holders 56 secured on the face of the beam 30, scarifying the film surface which is then of the film as the slide is passed thereunder.

Adjacently rearward the knife, the beam is materially widened, as at 61, and formed to present a reservoir 62 provided with a removable cover 63 through which extends a portion of the periphery of a circular applicator 64 by which cement contained in the reservoir is applied to the lowermost of the out ends of the film,

In order to produce a rotational effect of the applicator, to insure a fresh coating of the cement being appliedfan arm 65 carried by a resilient pressurefoot 66, attached to the cover 25, is extended outwardly to contact with the applicator 64, [just previous to its touching the film, thereby causing it to partially rotate and present a fresh coating to the film.

Set in the transverse slide 19 is a stud 68 forked at its outer end to receive a pivoted roll 69 engageable with a cam 70 on the front side of the beam extension 61, the arrangement being such that when the cam releases the-roll, the slide 19 will move inwardly, carrying the clamped end of the cut film under the opposite end of the film just previously coated with cement. 1

This inward movement is accomplished by r a flat spring 71, fixed on the transverse slide 19 and adjusted 'b a limit screw 72 therein, upon engaging a xed stop pin 73 set in the frame 20. v

A stop screw 74, adjustable in theslide 19, is arranged to make contact with the inner end cf a lever 75, pivoted on an inner member of the slide 19, carrying the roll 69, the lever being normally drawn against the stop 74 by a spring 75.

The opposite end of the lever 75 is engageable with a striker 77 carried at the rear end of the slide 13 at a point which brings it into contact with the end of the lever just after the cement has been applied to the film and when the overlapping of thefilm ends is to occur, the lever being restored by a pin 78 fixed in the transverse slide frame, as the slide 13 is moved rearwardly.

A rod 79 extends'longitudinally from the forward end of the slide beam 30 to the cement well 62, the same acting to raise the presser'foot 66 until nearly to the end of travel of the slide 30, the presser foot beingagain raised at the end of the slide moveg' ment by a lever 80 pivoted on a stud 81 set in the beam 30 and is maintained in operativeposition by a tension spring 82, this spring, together with the resilient presser foot 66, exerting pressure on the freshly cemented overlapped ends ofthe film, causing them to. firmly adhere in a moments time.

In operation the slide 13 is moved. to its rearmost position and the clamp plates 24 and 24 raised to permit the film ends to be mended to be placed in overlapping relation on the surfaces of the tableand slide,

the sensitized surface down, that on the slide the cam 47, raise the cutters into positionto positively remove the emulsion on the face of the film as the cutters are moved past.

Continuing forward the slide next presents a series of wire scratch brushes followed by a softer cleaning brush 57 to remove scrapings from the film which is then subjected to the knife 60 cutting both layers of the film cleanly across closely adjacent the inner edge of the table.

By the time the knife has severed the film ends, the spring arm makes contact with the corrugated surface of the rotary appli-,

cator 64 causing it to partially rotate in the cement'reservoir and present a freshlycharged surface to the mechanically clean under surface of the film end held on the cross slide 19.

Further forward movement of the slide 13 releases the roll 69 from the cam 70 permitting the cross slide to move inwardly, which, making contact with the presser foot 66 is depressed and passed under the freshly coated portion of the film end held on the table, to be pressed betweeen the sprin actuated lever 80 and presser foot 66 whereby a firm joint is secured and it will be apparent that by raising the cover plates 24 and 24 the film may be removed in condition for use and other broken films substituted upon moving the handle 32 and slide 13 into their extreme rearward position.

The foregoing disclosure is 'to be regarded as descriptive and illustrative only, and not as restrictive or limitative of the invention, 4

of which obviously an embodiment may be constructed including many modifications without departing from the general scope herem indicated and denoted in the appended claims."

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to scour by Letters Patent, is

1. A film mending machine comprising ain said base below said supports, means on said slide for moistening the film, a rack fixed on one of said supports, a gear train.

carried by said slide to be actuated by said rack, end mills drivenv by said gear train to operate on the moistened portion of the film, said mills being housed in the'slide, means for brushing the film carried by the slide, a cement reservoir in the slide, an applicator rotatable in said reservoir, means or moving the severed ends of the film into overlapping relation, means to apply resilient pressure to the overlapped ends of the film, and means for manually actuating said slide whereby the several' operations are performed in sequence.

2. In. a film mending machine, the combination witha base, supports thereon having film clamping means, and a slide movable longitudinally of said base, of a series of revoluble cutters having teeth on their ends, said cutters being mounted in said slide, means for rotating said cutters when passing below a film, and means for raising .the cutters to eut'away the emulsified sur-i advanced there- 4. In a film mending machine, the combination with a base, supports thereon having film clamping means, and a slide movable longitudinally of said base, of a well in said slide, a porous pad extending from said'well to a point above the slide to intercept the vpath of the film, a spring support for said .pad, and resilient means to retain said normally upright in said well.

5. In a 'film mending machine, the combination with a base, supports thereon having film clamping means, and a slide movable longitudinally of said base, of a beam on the longitudinal slide, a transverse slide in one of said supports, resilient means to press the transverse slide towards said beam, a

cam on said beam, said cam releasing the transverse slide to permit it to move inwardly and dispose the film ends side by side, and upper and. lower spring pressed elements to press the film ends together.

In testimony afiixed my signature.

JACK e. LEO.

whereof I have hereunto pad 

